APRIL 27, 2007
INSHORE - The big question this week was not where are the fish but when will this wind ever stop? Even with all the wind the fishing was on one day and off the next. You would find a nice school of fish and go back the next day and they had moved on. The best bite this week has been from the trout. They have been in 2 to 5 feet of water and early in the morning have been taking top water baits. After the day heats up you need to switch to a live shrimp fished under a popping cork or a soft plastic bait. There were several good schools of fish around the Harbour Branch area and on the Moorings Flats to the North. And, to the South you can start at Bear Point and work your way south to the Jensen Beach Causeway. Most of the trout this week were in the 2 to 4 pound range with only a couple of fish over 6 pounds being reported. The redfish bite has continued to be steady with fish coming from Round Island and Queen's Cove. The reds had lock jaw on Thursday but before that they were taking top water baits, small gold spoons and a live shrimp. The snook bite has been on and off with anglers reporting a good catch one day and nothing the next. Several slot size snook have been caught in the Turning Basin at the tide change. The North Bridge has been producing a few good fish. Fishing in the Ft. Pierce Inlet has been a day to day thing. Most of the fish caught there this past week were caught on a live pinfish and on the out going tide. The snapper are slow to move in along the channel edges but a few are starting to show up. We caught several on Thursday but they were all 1/2 inch too short. A small live shrimp was the bait to use. Over the last month there have been several black drum over 50 pounds being caught in the Turning Basin. All of these fish were caught by anglers who were snook fishing. The anglers were using a large, hand picked shrimp. The bite along the catwalks of the South Bridge have been from sandperch, snapper, sheepshead, black drum and a few croakers. There are still a good number of spanish mackerel in the Ft. Pierce Inlet. They will take just about anything you throw at them.
OFFSHORE - Same thing as inshore -- what's up with all this wind? This has made it a tough week for the smaller boats. During the week we had several boats go out and they did OK. On Wednesday and Thursday the boats that went caught dolphin to 25 pounds and all of the boats did have fish. They reported bites from 100 to 250 feet of water. Most of the fish were caught while trolling a dead ballyhoo. Some were caught on a naked hoo and others with a yellow and green skirt. There were several report of sailfish releases in that same area. The kingfish are still in close -- 25 to 70 feet of water. Most of the fish this week were in the 25 to 40 pound range and caught on a live bait. We did have two small wahoo come into the docks this week. Both were caught to the north of the Ft. Pierce Inlet and they were under 25 pounds. I did get reports of some cobia hanging around the Offshore Bar in 90 feet of water. These fish were caught by anglers who were bottom fishing. The snapper and grouper bite has been better to the North around the Bethel Shoals area. Both live and chunk baits have been producing fish. The beaches are covered with big jacks and spanish mackerel. They will take anything you can throw at them.
TEEN ANGLERS - This Sunday will be the last inshore tournament of the school year for the local chapter of Teen Anglers. They will leave Jaycee Park in Ft. Pierce at 6:45am and fish until noon. The top three middle and high school Teen Anglers will get trophies and fishing gear for their efforts. There will also be a trophy for biggest fish of the tournament. After the tournament the top five middle and high school Teen Anglers will be announced and they will have a fish off the following Sunday -- May 6th for the Teen Angler of the Year. If you would like more info on Teen Anglers or Junior Teen Anglers just go to the web at www.teenanglers.org.
BRAGGING BOARD - Bob Wittbold caught a gator trout on Wednesday just south of Bear Point. It weighed in at 6 pounds 1 ounce. Bob is a volunteer for the Teen Angler program. Brett Liggett reported catching two dolphin while fishing out of the Palm Beach Inlet. One dolphin weighed 36.5 pounds and the other was 22 pounds. They were caught while trolling dead ballyhoo. Ken Irish caught a 45 pound black drum while snook fishing in the Turning Basin. Obie McCarty caught several dolphin on Thursday with the biggest one being 25 pounds. They were fishing in 140 feet of water straight out of the Ft. Pierce Inlet.
If you would like to report a catch you can call me at 772-201-5770 or e-mail me at cward11605@aol.com. You can also reach me on the web at www.captjoeward.com.
Capt. Joe Ward
Capt. Joe's River Charters
